BASEBALL MLB ARTICLES

The Chicago Cubs will get a chance at revenge this week as they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series beginning on Monday. The series is the first meeting between the Cubs and Dodgers since the Dodgers knocked Chicago out of the 2017 postseason, taking the NLCS in five games. Both teams could face each other again this October, but for now, the Cubs seem better positioned as the Dodgers continue digging themselves out of an early season hole. Overall, this is set to be a series of two good teams, playing good baseball right now matching up. ... 

The Arizona Diamondbacks will kick off a brief two-game interleague series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday when they travel to Orange County. The D-Backs have been playing much better baseball of late and have climbed back atop the NL West standings. They’ll do what they can to keep things going against Mike Trout and the Angels who are trying to stay relevant in a difficult AL West division. Can the Angels get back on track at home or will the D-Backs steal their thunder on Monday? ... 

Rivalry games are always fun and ESPN gets the series finale of the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs, one of the more heated rivalries in the game between two teams in the thick of the NL Central race. The Cardinals have owned the season series so far and play this one at home. They’ll try to extend their dominance over the Cubbies on Sunday behind rookie right-hander Jack Flaherty while the Cubs turn to Jose Quintana to help maintain their lead over the Cards in the division standings. ... 

In what could be a preview of the AL Wild Card Game come October, the Seattle Mariners will host the Boston Red Sox for the third game of a four-game weekend series. The Mariners have been one of the hottest teams in baseball and are still trying to earn respect despite currently leading the AL West division over the reigning World Series Champions. A good series against the Sox will help gain that respect though this series, including Saturday’s game, will be a tough matchup as Seattle gets a knuckleballer in Steven Wright and counter with a little-known Wade LeBlanc. ... 

After a couple series against National League teams, the New York Yankees return to the American League and their own division to host the Tampa Bay Rays in the first of four on Thursday night in the Bronx. The Yankees continue to breeze through their competition, sitting on top of baseball with a .689 winning percentage. Both the Yankees and Rays haven’t announced their starter for the game, each juggling injuries in the rotation.... 

A couple of the game’s best teams collide on Wednesday in the finale of a short two-game series between the Washington Nationals and New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers will host the Nats in this possible World Series preview, entering the series with the best record in baseball. In hopes of continuing their success, the Yankees will send a surging Sonny Gray to the mound against a Nationals team that’ll be scrambling for a starter thanks to injuries to Stephen Strasburg and Jeremy Hellickson.... 

The Chicago Cubs make the short journey up to Miller Park for a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers starting on Monday. This is as important as a series gets in June with the Brew Crew holding a half game lead on the charging Cubs. The NL Central race figures to go down to the wire, but a series win by either team in this series could serve as an important confidence booster. After all, this series will determine the division leader come the final out on Wednesday. ... 

We’re now midway through the third month of the season and the Atlanta Braves are still atop the NL West, albeit tied with the Nationals. Atlanta’s next series kicks off on Tuesday as the Braves host the struggling New York Mets. In Tuesday’s series opener, the Mets will turn to veteran southpaw Jason Vargas while the Braves have one of the game’s most underrated arms set to make the start in Mike Foltynewicz. ... 

The first iteration of the 2018 Subway Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets kicks off in Flushing on Friday with a weekend series at Citi Field. This interleague rivalry has created several memorable moments and both teams always get up for the series even if they’re not each at the top of their game. That’s certainly the case this year as the Mets are reeling, but the Yankees are cruising. ... 

Once again, the New York Yankees are on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, this time in an interleague showdown against the crosstown rival New York Mets. The Yankees have the better team. The offense is rolling while the Mets—after a hot start—have been reeling for a while. Still, this rivalry matchup brings intrigue, especially considering the amazing pitching matchup with Luis Severino on the mound for the Yankees against Noah Syndergaard who will be coming off the DL to make the start of the Mets. ... 

The battle for Lone Star State continues Saturday with a nationally broadcast showdown between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers in the third game of a four-game series. It’s a bit of a David versus Goliath matchup with the Astros playing the part of the Giant. It’ll be up to the Rangers to get the surprise win to keep the comparison alive. That, however, seems like a long shot with Charlie Morton pitching for the Astros and a struggling Mike Minor toeing the rubber for the Rangers. ... 

The top two teams in the NL West, the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, will play a three-game series over the weekend to determine division supremacy—at least for the moment. The middle game of the three will be played on Saturday and broadcast nationally. With the Giants and Dodgers charging behind the two divisional leaders, winning this series is important to maintain an edge in the division. In this middle game of three, the Rockies will send Chad Bettis to the hill against the D-Backs’ Matt Koch. ... 

As Major League Baseball tries to be more engaged on social media, one of their avenues towards that goal involves broadcasting games live on Facebook. On Wednesday afternoon, the series finale between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants will be the latest game shown in such a way. The divisional foes are only separated by a few games and part of a four-team race in the NL West. To close out this three-game set, the Diamondbacks will give Clay Buchholz his fourth start, this one opposite Chris Stratton. ... 

Given the Philadelphia Phillies had the second worst record in the National League last year, it seemed unlikely that come June a series between the Phillies and the Chicago Cubs would be pinning two postseason hopefuls head-to-head. As it turns out, we live in a bizarre world where the real is often more surprisingly that the imaginary. The Phillies are in the thick of the NL East race and within striking distance, in a similar place to the Cubs in the NL Central. ... 

Marcell Ozuna gets his first chance to stick it to his former team on Tuesday when Ozuna and the St. Louis Cardinals host the Miami Marlins in the first of three. The Marlins, in rebuilding mode after the sale of the franchise, have really struggled lately, losing six in a row and nine of their last ten. They’ll send Jose Urena to the mound to try and be the stopper, but will have to contend with a newly healthy Carlos Martinez and playoff contending Cardinals team. ... 

In the third game of a four-game weekend series against divisional foes, the Minnesota Twins will host the Cleveland Indians with hopes of closing the gap between them in the standings. Despite a disappointing start to the season, the Twins are still technically in the race, but Cleveland is starting to pull away. To stay relevant, they’ll need their Saturday starter—Lance Lynn—to continue pitching the way he has his last two starts. Even if he does, however, Minnesota still will have a difficult matchup on Saturday with Trevor Bauer toeing the rubber for the Tribe. ... 

The Chicago Cubs are starting to play better baseball but like their counterparts on Saturday, the New York Mets, they’re mired in a tough division. With so much divisional competition, both teams need to win their out of division games. This series could go to the road team, but the hometown Mets have the edge on the mound for Saturday with Jacob deGrom making the start for New York with Chicago’s starter still up in the air. ... 

In the third game of a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, the Houston Astros will once again try and show why they’re the defending World Series champions. Of course, this series is a rematch of sorts of a 2017 ALDS that the Astros tore through. On the mound, this matchup is intriguing, too, with a pair of former Cy Young Award winners and former teammates, too, battle with David Price and Justin Verlander both scheduled to pitch. ... 

On Sunday night in primetime, the Houston Astros finish off what was the hardest schedule in baseball over the last week with the final game of four against the Boston Red Sox after taking on the New York Yankees to start the week. To close the series—hopefully on a strong note—the Astros have one of their best stories on the mound. Charlie Morton and his 2.26 ERA take the mound for Houston while the Sox will lean on Rick Porcello who’s had a good start to the season, but has struggled a bit of late. ... 

After a series against the Yankees in the Bronx, the Houston Astros will return home on Thursday, but the competition doesn’t get any easier as the Astros welcome the Boston Red Sox to Texas. Boston, New York and Houston remain at the top of most Power Rankings, boasting the best combination of pitching, hitting and defense. These are the three most complete team in the AL, if not the Majors, and after taking on one of the big dogs this past week, the Astros will try and survive four games against the Sox. ... 

While battling it out atop the NL East, the Atlanta Braves will play host to the Washington Nationals over the weekend to stave off the divisional favorites. Atlanta’s been a pleasant surprise this season, outperforming expectations. The young core has developed faster than expectations, but does this team have enough to hold on through the dog days of summer? With the schedule flipping to June and the Nationals surging, we’re about to find out.... 

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros wrap up a three-game series on Wednesday in what is a rematch of a May 2 win for the Yankees. This time, the game will be played in New York, giving the Bronx Bombers an extra edge. Luis Severino and Dallas Keuchel match up on the mound nearly a month after Severino’s first career complete game ended in a shutout of the Astros. Don’t look for Severino to be quite as masterful this time around, but can he do enough to capture another win—this time at home—opposite an establish pitcher like Keuchel? ... 

Both winning fewer than 40-percent of their games and ranking at the bottom of their respective divisions, the Texas Rangers will host the Kansas City Royals in the third game of a four-game series on Saturday. This matchup will, surprisingly, be broadcast nationally despite the futility of the two teams, giving the nation another chance to see the ageless wonder, Bartolo Colon, on the mound for the Rangers. He’ll be opposed by Ian Kennedy for the Royals. ... 

The struggling Los Angeles Angels don’t get a break this weekend as they head to the Bronx to take on the New York Yankees. All three games will be broadcast nationally with Saturday’s showdown live on FOX. The Angels will try to get back to the winning team they were in the first part of the season while attempting to cool off a red-hot Yankee offense. The Angels’ starter for Saturday is still up in the air, but they’ll get an inconsistent Sonny Gray against them. ... 

Pitching wins championships and both the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians have pitching—at least starting pitching, giving us some epic pitching matchups throughout the four-game series. The whole series could be a postseason preview. While the Indians haven’t hit their stride, yet, they’re still the team to beat in the AL Central just as the Astros are in the AL West. In the third game of this series on Saturday, we’ll see Lance McCullers Jr. matchup against Carlos Carrasco in would could be a pitchers’ duel. ...